rudloescene.co.uk - Walks in the Time of Covid U

Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.

Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.

Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!

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Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/

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Sunday, 25th October 2020, brings a bright, showery day. A walk around Boxfields, Hazelbury and Thorneypits receives the designation Walks in the Time of Covid U (this is the thirtieth such walk). The title pictures are: Old man's beard and the beeches of Doohan's Wood; horse chestnut in the Hazelbury 'avenue' and field maple at Thorneypits.

Boxfields Road and Leafy Lane Playing Fields

Looking back towards Doohan's Wood along right-of-way BOX47A

Tim Barton's barn, the focus of a planning application for a robotic milking parlour for a herd of up to 60 cows. This is, as far as I know, the farm's first venture into dairy, brought about through the relative profitability of milk over cereals*.

* Perhaps Brexit and subsidies are also involved. For me, the milk industry is evil, involving the killing or shipping abroad for veal of male calves; the use of antibiotics/growth hormone etc in non-organic milk (which may filter through to the drinker); the breeding for massively increased milk yields to the detriment of the animals' health/welfare. Given a natural healthy life, cows can live for twenty years or more. High-yielding dairy cows will typically be slaughtered after three or four lactations because their milk production drops and/or they are chronically lame or infertile.

Dry stone wall adjacent to right-of-way BOX44 and the view to Doctor's Hill, Kingsdown

Field maple (Acer campestre) leaves adjacent to right-of-way BOX44

Old man's beard adjacent to right-of-way BOX43; beeches of Quarry Wood beyond

Box and Ashley with Bannerdown, Solsbury Hill and Lansdown beyond ...

... now mainly the village with the woodland of Middlehill and Bannerdown beyond ...

... now, the Rec and Hill House Farm (Jamie's Farm) with Bannerdown (in the region of the Three Shires Stones) beyond ...

... now, the Manor House, David Pollard's house and the C of E school with the Rec beyond

In Wyres Lane (BOX55) looking across to Thorn Wood

Once again, Freddie Ljungberg makes a local appearance, this time in Wyres Lane

Continuing along Wyres Lane in the general direction of Wadswick Common

And so we continue along Wyres Lane, passing a large group of Poles along the way (the human type, not the wooden)

Beyond right-of-way BOX47B (in the 'dip'), autumn colours permeate (but more in the next picture) Thorn Wood

Thorn Wood again from Wyres Lane

Thorn Wood from Wyres Lane

Golden rule broken - never photograph gates, seats or benches - but this is an awry, unfastened gate close to the junction of Wyres Lane, BOX55 (to Wadswick Common), BOX94 (to Hazelbury) and BOX47B (to Box Bottom)

Bamboo by BOX94. This verge used to be full of Himalayan balsam but I guess that Madame Dr The Honourable Susan Gina Lacroix has had it removed (maybe through the auspices of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust)

Little pond ringed by hart's tongue fern and pendulous sedge adjacent to BOX94

Unidentified, pollarded, multi-branched tree at Hazelbury Manor

In the horse chestnut 'avenue' (but there's only one side) that borders the 'back entrance' to Hazelbury Manor

Still in the horse chestnut avenue. Let's hope these trees survive - many species of trees are affected by different problems at present: 'Increasing numbers of pests and diseases are attacking the UK's trees' - The Woodland Trust.

A landscape view of the horse chestnut in the title photograph

The Rudloe comms tower shining under a heavenly arc

Looks like the 'crock' is in the MoD field (the one with the electricity substation and Spring Quarry airshaft) at Thorneypits

Boxfields fields probably planted with winter wheat but the nearer field will be planted to grass as part of a robotic milking parlour development (awaiting approval by Wiltshire Council). Apparently, in the current climate, milk is more profitable.